Our lovley little Fairy House

Ava is very into Fairies right now. We like to look for them when we take our nature walks. Today we decided to build a Fairy house, just in case one decided to come and live in our garden. Here is our finished product...

8 Things I have caught myself saying this week...

1. Eli, please don't hijack your sister's stroller; you can take your football for a walk in the shopping cart.
2. Ava- finish your doughnut so you can have a vitamin! (mom of the year-right here!)
3. Shoes don't go in the freezer.
4. Ava, I know you love the worm, and I know he is your best friend, but, he is not moving so much anymore...so don't you think we ought to put him back in the ground?
5. Grammy is not a jungle gym, nor is she a trampoline.
6. No, I don't know Spiderman's phone number.
7. Ava- could you wipe your brother's nose please? (She enjoyed this more than he did!)
8. Well Ava, I am sorry you are cross with me, but you still can't run around the yard in underpants-this time.

While on Holiday

We recently went on holiday to Bath and Wales with Grammy. The pictures tell a better story than I can. I will just mention a couple of lessons that I learned on our trip...

1. My children can whine in harmony...for long periods of time...the volume/intensity of the whining is directly related to the tiredness/hungriness of afor mentioned children

2. A thirty pound 3 year old will crush a pet snail if she steps on it. She will then cry.

3. Birds will attack a one year old with a cracker. Then he will chase them.

4. My mother can look at rocks all day without getting bored.

5. My husband can also look at rocks all day without getting bored if the rocks form a wall /castle/ancient structure of some kind.

"Cwimb? Up?" Eli and the Rocks, and no, we did not let him climb them.

Here we are at Bath. A sad thing happened here.... As some of you may know Ava has had an imaginary friend named "Tomato" for the last 4-5 months. We don't like him very much because he tends to be very naughty. While in Bath, Ava informed us that her friend Tomato had climbed to the top of Bath Abbey (which you can see in the background). While we was up there he died...because he was old... RIP Tomato.

This one's for you Lora Lynn...Where are we??

Obviously climbing is exactly what we did!

Here we are at Southerndown Beach in Wales. This was the high point of the trip for the kids. I learned that Eric and I have spawned two baby mountain goats and my heart skipped a beat more than once as we played on the rocks...

Caerphilly Castle- This is leaningest leaning tower there is....Good job honey!

Here we are at Tinturn Abby (Wales)... At this point the kids were DONE!

Drowned Cat Drama

So, we have had A LOT of rain here lately, even some flooding... The only (near) fatality in the Conderman household was Kitty. Ava loves to take Kitty on tricycle rides around the yard, but, alas, Kitty did not make it inside before the big rain storm last night. Oh dear...doesn't this look grim? Fortunately Mommy (the nurse) was able to perform Kitty resuscitation in a timely manner and we hope that Kitty will make a full recovery. Ava has been faithfully nursing her back to heath including frequent shots, heart rate checks, bandages, and what even looked suspiciously like a colonoscopy...
Anyway, other than the faint unpleasant smell of mildew, Kitty seems to be much better. We hope Ava has learned a valuable lesson about leaving her toys out in the UK elements. However, experience as parents has taught us not to hold our breath....*sigh*
The Man of the Hour: Eric Conderman- Daddy Extraordinaire, Teacher of New Trampoline Moves, Tireless Reader of Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Winner of the Highest Building Blocks Tower, Maker of the Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Finder of the Lost Ballet Shoe, and Eager Co-Resuscitator of Drowned Stuffed Kittys. Thank you for always being "second winner" so that Ava could be "First Winner" (down the stairs, finishing dinner, going potty, etc). I love you and Happy Father's Day!

Life less hectic?

Last Wednesday, Eric's full time job (finally) came to an end. He is now substitute teaching on my days off. So far he has been booked for all of my days off, has about 60 projects (including the "bad car") and is full time Daddy of the Year! Currently he is putting together his "Cross Bow" (no he is not been tasked with hunting-yet, a Cross Bow is a full body work out thingie... like a Bow Flex for those fitness Savvy people). The man never rests- rather like another father I know...
Anyway, Happy Fathers Day Honey! And Dad... If you ever read this... Happy Fathers Day to you Too!

"Shoo foe fees"

While Ava was at preschool today, Eli and I went to Ely to get new summer sandals for him. I tried putting him in Ava's old sandals from last year, but he would yell and cry, "shoo owie!". When we arrived at the store, Eli picked out his own new sandals with a triumphant cry of, "Shoo foe fees!" (trans.= shoes for feets) I think that this is the first time he has put three words together, so I just had to share. Ava is currently changing her baby dolls diaper (again) and then she says she is going to make dinner. *sigh* if only...

Cookie Makin' and Dinosaur Huntin'

Ava has been begging to make "Christmas cookies" for about the last month. Today I gave in, forgetting that the entire process always ends with tears and whining...
And the kids aren't much better!!

Elijah Von Cookie Snatcher

Cookies and Frosting- a preschoolers delight!

The (in)famous Dinosaur Park

This one's for you Aunt Carissa- it's the rare Critasaurous- yes that is it's real name!

AWWWWWW!

Random stories from a typical week...

"Old car, new car, bad car, blue car".
Early this week we bought a brand new (to us) 1997 Toyota British car. I
so love it! The next day the BMW would not start. I think the cranky old thing just died of jealousy but the autopsy report is still pending...


The weather continues to be crummy here (it is England after all!) so much of our time has been spent indoors. We continue to read to the kids and they absolutely love books. (see below pictures) Yesterday Eric was getting the kids ready for a bath. He left them in the bathroom for like two seconds only to return to find that Ava had completely undressed Eli down to the perfectly wrapped up diaper- wow I love that girl! While taking a bath, Eli continuously was a little "stinker" splashing the walls and in general disobeying Daddy. After a couple of
warnings, Eric removed him from the tub, explaining to Ava that Eli was taken out of the tub because he disobeyed. Ava suddenly smiled and said, "Oh! Just like Adam and Eve disobeyed God and had to leave their home!". Wow- she really listens when we read to her!

I'm so proud- sniff! (Mommy is currently studying for Lactation Consultant Boards)

This is what my kids do before bed. I am so glad they love to read!

Finally... a little sunshine!

Today has been sunny and beautiful- notice the happy kids. We have jumped on the trampoline, washed cars, dug for worms, and played in the mud!



I was sleeping this morning (just had gotten home from work-nightshift-yuk!) and Eric had home Sunday School with the kids. Ava learned all about Noah and his "aminals". When I woke up, I asked Ava what she had learned about Noah- and this is pretty much what she said...
"Well, Noah didn't want to get dead, so he made an ark. All the animals didn't want to die either so they got on too. Some of the animals fought with each other, but most of them loved each other. Noah packed some bananas for the monkeys so they wouldn't be sad. They were on the boat a long time, and crossed a big ocean for 6 years. Then they were done and God made a "brainbow" and they got off the boat...But Mommy, where is God?"
Rather a tough question to answer in three-year-old talk! Later that evening, my son got a bit artistic with his dinner...

Pre-dinner time meltdown...

A little bit sloppy...



A true work of art using a mash potato medium and a little boy canvass.

Post script...A few minutes after the Ava picture she opted to eat her napkin instead of her chicken and spent the rest of the meal "cross" in her room...oh dear!